***OFFICIAL Convergence 20 ANNOUNCEMENT!*** Full-weekend tickets are on sale now for $65. Starting today, individual date tickets are also now on sale! An individual date ticket gets you in to that date's evening events at Bottom Lounge only (no goody bag; no laminate.) We strongly encourage everyone to get a full-weekend ticket & be part of the whole weekend of fun, camaraderie, & debauchery- but if you can only be there for part, so be it. Tickets for Friday night only are $35; tickets for Saturday night only are $35; tickets for Sunday night only are $10. Tickets will be available through the Bottom Lounge website later this week or NOW at:

BandsCaptain Matt's Armada featuring Axel where Trevor writes all the songs & does all the work, Armageddon Party, Third Realm, Garda,Headliner TBA.

Febuary Updates:Futurestate and Sludge Faktory confirmed for the fashion show. Fashion Show Coordinator Amy O'Connor is still looking for one more designer, designers to provide accessories, and models in the xs-m size range.

Badges go up in price on April 1 to $60, current price is $50.

Want to organize fun stuff to do while we're there? Post something here, or on FB, or e-mail the committee chair - digitalpixie through the e-mail service provided by the well known evil .network Verizon.

And if you want Convergence to happen next year - it's time to get your Bid Proposing Hat on. C19 bids should be in by the end of February 2012 for the next time we play this game. -- Axel... ...for The C*B*L

After this years vote cycle flew past without a single bid, I managed to convince a few people with more enthusiasm than sense to put in a bid.

At some point Peter will get the vote engine running to allow y'all to choose between this and Boo's Pants (which would likely end up being in Buffalo in the middle of June...)

Anyhow - the choice for Convergence 18:

Buffalo?!? Seriously?!?Convergence 18 Buffalo NY BidA local alternative night promoter and a local crazy dj team up. Hilarity ensues.Convergence 18: Buffalo, coming to a Buffalo that may not be near you summer 2012Your Mad Man

Digital Enigma (ladycelest) is a dj who wears her crazy on her sleeve. She's attended/dj'ed Gothcruise 6 and 7, and lived with RazorJAK long enough to hear some stories.

DJ Storm has attended many a Convergence and Gothcruise.

Darkpartys has been promoting nights in Buffalo for the alternative scene, some are just dance nights and some are themed nights.

ThemeThe theme is... Buffalo?!? Seriously?!? This will be a time for people to take things not so serious(Unless you're on the committee, cause THIS SHIT IS FOR REALZ YO). We're known for drinking and food in this town.

LocationBuffalo NY has a lot to offer for those who know where to look, including cheap drinks, bartenders who remember when people tip, bars that close at 4 am, an art gallery that houses some seriously famous works of art and happens to be across the street from...an art gallery, botanical gardens, parks in the city limits designed by Frank Olmstead, nifty non-chain shops with Buffalo feel, a wide range of ethnic food, wonderful architecture, and RazorJAK.

CostWe're looking at $40-$50. Since public transport shuts down before the bars close at 4 am, we're looking into setting up a private shuttle bus to get people to and from the bar and hotel in between the time the public transport shuts down and the bars close.

HotelTBD

Tentative Dates:

June 16-18 or 1-3, depending on hotel availibility.Events

Friday-Standard meet&greet, maybe organizing for dinner.Then GET YOUR BOOZE ON come as you are style, with a possible burlesque act.

Saturday-We're looking to get a vendor room in the hotel for shop and drop-off convenience, and looking at vendor room hours of 12-7 so we can get people in who might they Convergence is wierd or that they are too good for Convergence.Looking to book a picnic/walking tour of Forest Lawn Cemetery between 4 and 6 pmThen, at the bar HOLY CRAP PIRATES because everyone loves pirates and the Great Lakes had their fair share of piracy back in the day, and a musical performance by INSERT BAND HERE.

Sunday-Final call for the vendor room, 12-6. Time to see if we can drink the bar dry in Dress to Impress style. Time to show off just how awesome your wardrobe really is. Also, possible belly dancing act.Looking into getting Ghostwalking tour set up hereMaybe put fashion show here?

Monday-Time to go home :(

Unofficial events-Thursdays in lafayette square(in downtown buffalo) is a tradition called Thursday At The Square where some better known bands play for free. Concessions pay for the bands so they won't let you take anything in. After I know of a nice little bar in downtown buffalo that is themed to our kind of people.The Albright-Knox Art Gallery has a special where the main collection is free to view from 3 to 10 pm on fridays. They do accept donations though, and any special collection they have will have an admission fee.We're close to Niagara Falls, so you can go see those.We have a Casino in downtown Buffalo that currently only has slots. If you want other casino games you'll have to go to it's counterpart casino in Niagara Falls USA.Martin House Complex-Buffalo is home to the Frank Lloyd Wright Martin House. The Martin House is offering tours with proceeds helping to restore parts that were torn down back to their original state.Greycliff House-If you're willing to drive a half hour away, you can also visit Frank Lloyd Wright's Greycliff house, also open for tours. I did not make these house tours official events as they can only accomidate a small number of people at once.

Getting to Buffalo:We have an international airport, two amtrak stations, and one bus terminal. If you live on the Great Lakes, we even have a harbor. Traveling to buffalo can be cheap cause apparently people only come here to travel to other destinations.

F.A.Q.Q. Why Buffalo?A. Cause when I had this crazy idea there were no bids for Convergence 18 and I've never been cause I'm poor. Buffalo is cheap. Idea lightbulb went DING.Q. What will the weather be like?A. Probably around 70F or 20C. Might rain, might not. Downtown can get breezy cause it's on the lake.Q. Kids?A. Bars are usually 18+ to enter and 21+ to drink, and the events will be kid friendly unless stated.

Bid Proposal Request Period BEGINS2010 February 07 00:00EST (03:02GMT)1. All Convergence 17 Bid Proposal Committee Chairpersons must contact Axel (convergence@virulent.org) to have a web account set up on altgothic.com to host their proposal web sites.

Bid Proposal Submission Period BEGINSBid Proposal Public Discussion and Debate Period BEGINS.2010 February 14 00:00EST (05:00GMT) 1. During this time Bid Proposal Committees must submit their Bid Proposals and preliminary event budgets to Axel (convergence@virulent.org) for inclusion on the Convergence 17 ballot. After receipt of submission they must post their Bid Proposals to the alt.gothic.* news groups' they may open their web sites to the public. Posting to regional mailing lists, web communities, blogs etc. is acceptable but not essential. 2. See the Bids page for information on how to create and submit a Convergence 17 proposal. 3. The Convergence 17 Bid Proposal Public Discussion and Debate Period also begins at this time. Discussions will take place primarily on the alt.gothic* news group hierarchy. 4. If you don't have a newsfeed that can access alt.gothic , Google can help you out.

Bid Proposal Request Period ENDSBid Proposal Submission Period ENDS2010 February 28 0:00EST (05:00GMT) 1. Additional Convergence 17 Bid Proposals will NOT be accepted after this date. If you submit after that date, we will hold on to it for the Convergence 18 Bid Selection Process.

Proposal Modification Period ENDSRatification Period BEGINS2010 March 12 0:00EST (05:00GMT) 1. The Bidding Committees may no longer make any changes to their bids. 2. The proposal websites are frozen. 3. The denizens of alt.gothic decide if they wish to reject any of the bids, as per the ratification process.

Ratification Period ENDS2010 March 23 0:00EST (05:00GMT)The C*B*L determine which bids are ratified. 1. The voting system is announced on alt.gothic.

Bid Clarification Period BEGINS2010 March 23 0:00EST (05:00GMT)The purpose of this period is to ensure that what is voted on is what was ratified. 1. The Bidding Committees may modify their bid websites to incorporate clarifications of the bid that came up during ratification. 2. The Bidding Committees may not add net new content to the bid.

Bid Clarification Period ENDSC*B*L Bid Review BEGINS2010 March 25 0:00EST (05:00GMT) 1. The Bidding Committees may no longer make any changes to their bids. 2. The proposal websites are frozen. 3. The C*B*L will review the bids to ensure the changes are appropriate.

Voting Period ENDS2010 April 02 0:00EST (05:00GMT) 1. Voting is closed and results will be reviewed and tallied.

Committees notified of Results2010 April 02 1. The C*B*L notifies the Chairs of the bids of the results.

Public Announcement of Results2010 April 03 1. On receipt of a response from the Chair of the winning bid, or after 24 hours of sending the notification, the winning proposal and relevant voting demographics are announced on altgothic.com and the alt.gothic news groups.

That timetable in full:Convergence 16 TimetableBid selection is intended to occur in Spring to allow the selected committee at least 12 months lead time. Therefore, we are publishing the time line for Convergence 16 selection nice and early to assist people who are considering entering a bid for Convergence 16. Bid Proposal Request Period BEGINS

2009 February 07 00:00EST (03:02GMT) 1. All Convergence 16 Bid Proposal Committee Chairpersons must contact Siobhan (convergence@virulent.org) to have a web account set up on altgothic.com to host their proposal web sites.

Bid Proposal Submission Period BEGINS Bid Proposal Public Discussion and Debate Period BEGINS.2009 February 14 00:00EST (05:00GMT) 1. During this time Bid Proposal Committees must submit their Bid Proposals and preliminary event budgets to Siobhan (convergence@virulent.org) for inclusion on the Convergence 16 ballot. After receipt of submission they must post their Bid Proposals to the alt.gothic.* news groups' they may open their web sites to the public. Posting to regional mailing lists, web communities, blogs etc. is acceptable but not essential. 2. See the Bids page for information on how to create and submit a Convergence 16 proposal. 3. The Convergence 16 Bid Proposal Public Discussion and Debate Period also begins at this time. Discussions will take place primarily on the alt.gothic* news group hierarchy. 4. If you don't have a newsfeed that can access alt.gothic , Google can help you out.

Bid Proposal Request Period ENDS Bid Proposal Submission Period ENDS2009 February 28 0:00EST (05:00GMT) 1. Additional Convergence 16 Bid Proposals will NOT be accepted after this date. If you submit after that date, we will hold on to it for the Convergence 17 Bid Selection Process.

Proposal Modification Period ENDS Ratification Period BEGINS2009 March 12 0:00EST (05:00GMT) 1. The Bidding Committees may no longer make any changes to their bids. 2. The proposal websites are frozen. 3. The denizens of alt.gothic decide if they wish to reject any of the bids, as per the ratification process.

Ratification Period ENDS2009 March 23 0:00EST (05:00GMT)The C*B*L determine which bids are ratified. 1. The voting system is announced on alt.gothic.

Bid Clarification Period BEGINS2009 March 23 0:00EST (05:00GMT)The purpose of this period is to ensure that what is voted on is what was ratified. 1. The Bidding Committees may modify their bid websites to incorporate clarifications of the bid that came up during ratification. 2. The Bidding Committees may not add net new content to the bid.

Bid Clarification Period ENDS C*B*L Bid Review BEGINS2009 March 25 0:00EST (05:00GMT) 1. The Bidding Committees may no longer make any changes to their bids. 2. The proposal websites are frozen. 3. The C*B*L will review the bids to ensure the changes are appropriate.

Voting Period ENDS2009 April 02 0:00EST (05:00GMT) 1. Voting is closed and results will be reviewed and tallied.

Committees notified of Results2009 April 02 1. The C*B*L notifies the Chairs of the bids of the results.

Public Announcement of Results2009 April 03 1. On receipt of a response from the Chair of the winning bid, or after 24 hours of sending the notification, the winning proposal and relevant voting demographics are announced on altgothic.com and the alt.gothic news groups.

Bid Selection Process

There are 4 steps to getting a bid chosen to be a Convergence:

1. Bids are entered. 2. The C*B*L vet the bids to ensure they are within the bounds of reason[1] and fulfill the requirements. 3. alt.gothic ratifies the bids. 4. The voters vote for the bid they want to go to.

The events occur on the dates laid out in the timelineBid Proposal Requirements

If you are at all unclear about what is and is not acceptable, ask The_C*B*L before acting. If you act first and get it wrong, your bid could be disqualified.

If you want to put this show on, you need to read these requirements. If your bid breaks the rules, it will not be included in the vote. We does not want to have to do so but we have to be fair to all the people who invest time, effort and money in putting a bid together.

The core planning and decision making membership of a Convergence committee should consist of at least 50% net.goths. We prefer it if ALL members of your committee have attended at least one past Convergence. These numbers do not include and are not relevant to the volunteer and paid staff who assist in actually presenting the event on its scheduled days.

In your Convergence Bid Proposal you must

1. Introduce your Bid Committee. We put this at the top, 'cos it's the most important part. We have to trust you to put on our party and to do it right so knowing who you are and why we can have confidence in you is really important. 2. Explain why we should come to your town. 1. What's in it for us? 2. How does it rock? 3. Outline what your tentative plans are for Convergence. Over the years this part has typically been the most emphasized in the bids, and has become way rather more than 'tentative'. Since you will only have about a year between vote and execution the more planning you can do in advance the better.

Audience

Your core audience are the denizens of alt.gothic and their friends. The expected attendees includes our friends and families from the alt.gothic.* news groups, related mailing lists and other forms of electronic communities.Content

The themes, locations and activities are up to your committee's creativity and resources. We are trusting you to design an affordable, accessible and highly social event for us to attend.

As long as your committee keeps its core audience in mind with realistic goals and strives to maintain a high degree of organization and professionalism, you can expect great success in planning and executing your alt.gothic Convergence^(SM) party, should the vote be in your favor.Submission

The first public posting of your bid must be on alt.gothic. After that, feel free to post and discuss it anywhere you want, but alt.gothic MUST come first.

You can talk about your potential bid prior to this anywhere you want, and indeed we encourage you to ask alt.gothic what we want, and to get input from previous organisers and attendees to make your bid the best possible.

Posting to weblogs, regional mailing lists, web communities and other resources is permitted but not required.Bid Proposal Submission Period

See the timeline.Bid Proposal Web Sites

Proposal web sites must be hosted on altgothic.com. No exceptions. Each Bid Committee will be allotted 10MB of disk space, CGI-bin access and a single FTP login account with 24 hour access. No other website may be used to provide informational content, only to provide a reference to the altgothic.com-hosted proposal site.

To receive your altgothic.com web account, you must send Siobhan at the convergence@virulent.org address the following information immediately:

* Talk to alt.gothic as you build your event. We are your audience. We can give you very fast feedback about what is worth investing your time and money on when you put the event together.

* Talk to former Convergence committees. Odds are someone has relevant experience that you can learn from, instead of making the same mistake twice.

* Talk to The C*B*L. We have experience putting on the party. We have experience attending the party. We know an awful lot of people who know stuff about things that you can leverage. We do this because we love Convergence. Not for the money, drugs or women[2]. We will keep anything you talk to us about in the strictest confidence.

* Avoid scheduling conflicts with similar events. It'll limit the people who can come, and since most others are on a regular calendar schedule but since Convergence floats chronologically, you'll look like a dick. Piss people off and they won't buy tickets, and because Convergence is first and foremost a social event that can have a ripple effect. For instance Whitby Gothic Weekend, WaveGotik Treffen, Black Sun, the various 'Dark Arts' festivals.

* Listing specific musical acts, venues or other information which can change drastically over the next 9 to 12 months in your bid is strongly discouraged. Firstly because it's not about the bands; secondly, if you promise to resurrect Ian Curtis and don't deliver, there's a good chance you'll be lynched.

* Keep your committees small. A small committee of 4 people or less is far more efficient and likely to succeed than a larger committee.

* Nominate one person to speak on behalf of your committee. It is a practice which can spare your audience from a lot of confusion and your committee from embarrassment. However, make sure it is somebody who has time and energy to spend on answering seemingly dumb questions.

* Limit your live band rosters. Live bands are nice but not essential. The primary focus of Convergence is the people of alt.gothic. Events should be people oriented and inclusive, relaxed, inexpensive and above all FUN.

Extended Resources for Bid Proposal Committeess

A growing library of text documents written by the past alt.gothic Convergence^(SM) Committee members who now act as advisors will be available to all Bid Proposal Committee members, as well as specific contacts in all areas of Convergence planning. These members have volunteered their time and expertise to remain highly available to assist all of you in constructing the best Bid Proposals and eventually the best Convergence events possible. Browse this wiki for more information.

It cannot be emphasized enough the importance of consulting with past Convergence committees members (especially Siobhan and Axel of Convergence 8, Eilis of Convergence 9) and the plethora of web and Usenet based diaries of past events to get a solid perspective on what works and what does not.

Live in 30 minutes (9 p.m. eastern) In the Flat Field with your host Matt (gwyrah) Trevethan. If your in Detroit and own a HD radio tune to 101.9-2 the rest of the world go to www.inflatfield.com and click on the WDET HD2 "The Avenue" banner.

In the Flat Field is a weekly ebm, synthpop, goth, industrial, dark metal and gothmetal program from WDET HD2 Detroit. First air is Tuesdays at 9 p.m. eastern repeating Friday night at Midnight. Playlists, podcasts and more information at www.inflatfield.com and itunes.

To reserve your room, call the Queen Mary at 800.437.2934 or 562.432.6964 beginning on Monday, October 20, and request a stateroom in the Convergence 15 block.

Convergence-goers will truly be getting the royal treatment on board the Queen. We are very excited to announce a super-special room rate of $135.00 per night, double occupancy! Book now to secure your stateroom and this rate!

The charge for each additional adult is $15.00 per night. Either a crib or a rollaway bed is available at $15.00 per night. Children under age 17 may stay in their parents’ stateroom free of charge when no additional bedding is required.

The $135.00 per night rate is good for three days before and after C15, which is awesome for those of you wishing to arrive early to enjoy So Cal or stay late to hit up Comic-Con the following weekend.

It should be noted that ghosts like to hang out on the B Deck (seriously…this came from our contact at the Queen). If you like ghosts, you may request a stateroom on this deck and see if any come visit you. Just lock down your booze…ghosts might try to steal your Tidy Bowl. ;)

We will keep you posted as things progress, but until then, book your stateroom and buy your laminate, and of course, feel free to shoot us an email at captains@convergence15.com if you have any questions.

The hotel block is NOT on sale yet, but it will be soon, and you'll hear it here first.

We have also arranged for a special discount from JetBlue. JetBlue services the lovely Long Beach Airport (really...it's lovely; TSA is a breeze there, and the airport is rarely crowded, making for a generally pleasant experience...plus, the airport serves Polly's Coffee, which is a mom 'n' pop coffeehouse in Belmont Shore).

To get the C15 rate, book the lowest fare online and use this code: Convergence15